The Importance of Branding Yourself Properly as an Entertainer
The Importance of Branding Yourself Properly as an Entertainer
This morning I had the pleasure of having a pleasant initial phone conversation with an author and public speaker. This particular conversation inspired me to write a blog on a very important subject: Branding Yourself. One of the benefits of being artistic is that you can promote yourself using your own unique creativity. However, without proper structure, sometimes the creativity you use can also limit the effectiveness of your own branding.
Social media has given us the opportunity to reach out farther than we ever have before. This is a great thing It’s also a bad thing if not done right. The artist has such a heavy desire to get their career moving that it often causes the artist to rush through creating a solid plan, which can mean costly mistakes. Haste really does make waste. In general, artists also tend to take advice from people who really aren’t experts in the field they need, but may have had more success than we they have, and so out of respect the artist will listen to them and try to emulate them. This could be a devastating move to a career.
In order to maximize a career opportunities, the artist should always strive to build a solid team around them who is driven and knowledgeable in whatever area they specialize in. The artist should make it a priority to brand themselves as best as they can until they are able to build that solid team of professionals around them. Branding is something that involves creativity, consistency and most important, discipline.
When building a brand it is critical that the artist has a game plan to market the brand. Make sure the image is completely in tact, and by image I mean making sure the photos are professional, the logo communicates your brand effectively, the website and social networking pages are all consistent in imagery, message and so on. Don’t confuse the brand with things that don’t showcase who the artist truly is what is unique to them. The artist is the focal point and product. People purchase what they like and understand. Anything else is a waste of time and effort and ultimately leads to nowhere. Artist websites should be a giant advertisement of the artist and not of anything else. Artists need to learn how to position themselves in a way that leads to people noticing them. The “buzz” is what the artists should be looking for, and that doesn’t happen with ill prepared branding.
In short, take time to develop a brand that IS you, be strategic in the planning of launching and marketing it, and above all else, be disciplined and diligent in executing it and maintaining it!
What if you are considered pretty good at many things?
Over the years I have been told that I do many things fairly well.
Right now I write Entertainment articles, design my own costumes, act, improv-comedy, emcee as well as perform live as a tribute artist and jazz vocalist. In the past I have also done numerous radio spots, and was always told I should do voice-overs.
My problem is that I cannot decide which to focus on…How can you choose only one, and should you?
Dawnn,
That is a great question and obviously there are many answers. It will truly depend on the individual, but to capture the market so to speak you need to pick one that your truly love doing and focus on that till you get to a level that you determine where you can branch out into other endeavors and make yourself an “Enterprise” so to speak. You can then really market and advertise based on the strength of the brand already built and see greater results much faster. It’s to hard to do to many things at once without a serious game plan.
I hope that answered your question enough:) If not, keep asking and we will keep digging lol
Regards,
David
Great blog post, David! I’d like some resources as to how one develops a brand. Any books, DVDs, websites?
Thanks,
Robert
Hi David,
You’re right that people often make costly mistakes. I’ve seen it time and time again where an artist will go out and spend money on clothing for a photo shoot without the advice of an image consultant or stylist. If they don’t know how to dress for their body type or what clothing goes best with their backdrop for the shoot, they will end up with a look that is all wrong or ill-fitting, and they will end up hating their promo pics and decide they need to get new ones done. So after spending money on clothes, hair, makeup, and photos, they end up having to make that investment again. If they would take the time and set aside a little extra money the first time around to work with an image consultant such as myself to find the right clothing and to be on the set of the shoot, they will have clothing that fits properly and mixes well, and the right look for the purpose of the photo shoot and the message they are trying to convey in the photos.
Lori,
Thanks for reading my blog and commenting on it:) We look forward to having you on the show soon!
David
Im all over the place.. but.. like the other comment.. I have a hard time focusing.. which in turn makes the people who could hire me not understand.
Im an actor..comedian.. host… juggler..ventriloquist.. comic magician.. and I produce and perform with a drum show…
My branding ?? Its me.. Im David Beach… lol.. and since you dont know me,.. its not working
sigh.. too many irons in the fire.. and all of em too warm to take out any…
( granted..Im open to suggestions..)
D
Thank you for sharing some great tips and insight. Good food for thought.
Paul
I truly enjoyed this article and it makes alot of sense. I am similar to a few of the posters here. I aspire to get into hosting more – specifically gameshow hosting albeit I do so many other things. Branding for that is, as Marki Costello has told me, will have to come from something I create. I need to focus on one thing at a time, master that, and then branch out. My objective is to be represented by Lowry one day.
Thanks for the insight.
Rick,
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I wish you all the best and hope you find the success you are looking for.
David
Thank you for the article. Love your site’s layout. Very easy to navigate / interact.